A climate of arctic severity prevailed in Britain throughout much of the last two million years, resulting in the widespread formation of a great range of periglacial landforms and deposits. Many of these features provide key evidence for understanding the evolution of the present landscape and reconstructing former climate. Appreciation of the significance of periglacial deposits and structures is also important in many engineering operations and in understanding the development of present-day soils. This book, first published in 1994, provides a synthesis of theory in periglacial geomorphology and applies this to the study of periglacial phenomena in Great Britain. The first part of the book introduces the chronological and environmental background to periglaciation in Britain. The second and third parts deal respectively with the periglaciation of lowland Britain and upland Britain. The book concludes by considering the implications of periglacial phenomena for environmental reconstruction.

The diversity of Scotland's mountains is remarkable, encompassing the isolated summits of the far northwest, the serrated ridges of Skye, the tor-studded high plateau of the Cairngorms and the rolling hills of the Southern Uplands. Born on ancient continents and uplifted by tectonic forces, the mountains of Scotland have been sculpted by successive ice sheets, landslides, frost, wind and running water. This book explains the geological evolution of Scotland's mountains, and how this has produced an unparalleled variety of mountain forms. It outlines the effects of successive ice sheets on mountain scenery, and explains the dramatic changes in climate that terminated the Ice Age only 11,500 years ago. In non-technical terms it explains the effects of frost action in forming the rubble that mantles many mountain summits, and how such debris has slowly migrated downslope by freezing and thawing of the ground. The dramatic effects of deglaciation and earthquakes in triggering catastrophic landslides and downslope displacement of entire mountainsides are described, along with accounts of more recent events involving the rapid downslope flow of saturated debris. The book also outlines how Scottish mountains experience frequent gale-force winds, and their impact of wind in scouring plateaus and depositing expanses of windblown sand on lee slopes. The role of floods in eroding upland terrain and depositing floodplains, terraces and fans of sediment is described in the context of possible human influence on river regime through forest clearance.Written in clear, non-technical language and abundantly illustrated, this book is designed to provide an essential guide to landforms for all those who walk, climb, live and work in the mountains of Scotland.